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Friday, February 26, 2016

Two former employees of Sarclad, a Rotherham-based specialist in technology based products for the metal industry, have been charged with bribery and corruption offences.

The firm is a world leader in providing technology-based products to assist metal producers reduce manufacturing costs and improve product quality. Over the last 30 years the company has grown and expanded around the world and now supplies quality equipment to all of the leading steel manufacturers and suppliers across 46 different countries.

Michael Sorby, former director and Adrian Leek, former sales manager, of Sarclad Limited, appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday, both charged with one count of conspiracy to corrupt, contrary to section 1 Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and one count of conspiracy to bribe under s.1 Bribery Act 2010.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place between June 1 2004 and June 13 2012 and concern financial inducements offered to secure contracts for Sarclad.

The next hearing in this case will take place at Southwark Crown Court on March 24 2016.

Sarclad relocated from Chesterfield to 13,597 sq ft of office space at the Evolution development on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, opening the new facilities in July 2012. The move involved a £1.6m investment by the manufacturers.

In November 2015, the firm expanded into an adjoining unit taking an additional 14,000 sq ft of primarily production engineering space.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) began its investigation in June 2013. The Financial Times reported last year that Sarclad could be the first company to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SFO. A DPA is a US-style agreement that allows a company to reach an agreement with a prosecutor to avoid a criminal conviction and is likely to result in a financial punishment. The Sarclad case is also thought to be one of the first involving allegations of bribery under the Bribery Act 2010, which came into force in 2011.